IRVINE, Calif. – No. 3 UC Irvine took care if business with a 3-0 sweep of No. 16 CSUN (25-22, 25-21, 30-28) at the Bren Events Center Saturday.

After hitting a season-low Friday, UCI rebounded with a .412 (51-11-97) hitting performance, the third highest mark of the season.

UCI was led by Hilir Henno with 16 kills, hitting .429. He took 35 swings with his lone hitting error coming in the third set. The junior also recorded five digs, four block assists and an ace.

Outside hitter Nolan Flexen stepped back into the starting rotation and posted 14 kills, hitting .440 (14-3-25). He added three block assists and three digs in the win.

UCI (16-7, 5-1) won the battle of the net tonight, out-blocking the Matadors 9-6.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite William D'Arcy totaled nine kills
>Middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev hit .778 (8-1-9), while middle blocker Connor Campbell rejected a match-best six block assists to go with four kills
>Setter Brett Sheward taliied 43 set assists and a team-high six digs
>CSUN's Kyle Hobus matched Henno with 16 kills
>CSUN (11-12, 2-4) hit .326 (44-14-92) and out-aced UCI 7-3
>Both teams had 26 digs

FIRST SET
>UCI opened up the set with three straight kills, two by Maxim Grigoriev and one by Nolan Flexen, 9-5
>Kills by William D'Arcy and Flexen extended the lead to 15-11
>A UCI service error and a Matador ace closed the margin to 18-16
>D'Arcy hammered a kill from the right then Grigoriev crushed an overpass in the middle, 23-19
>UCI would win the set on a Matador serve that sailed long, 25-22
>Both teams were efficient offensively with UCI hitting .607 (18-1-28) and CSUN .500 (15-2-26)

SECOND SET
>A D'Arcy kill and two Matador attack errors helped UCI to a 6-3 advantage
>A kill and a pair of Anteater attack errors tied the set at 7-7
>Triple block by Flexen, Brett Sheward and Grigoriev and a D'Arcy ace moved the Anteaters out to a 10-7 lead
>Three in a row by UCI, two Hilir Henno kills and an ace by Sheward gave the Anteaters a 15-11 lead
>A kill and block assist by Connor Campbell made it 23-19, but CSUN wouldn't go away scoring three unanswered to edge to 23-21
>Henno stopped the momentum with a kill and the Anteaters would win the set on a block by Flexen and Campbell, 25-21

THIRD SET
>CSUN jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but it faded fast with a block by Henno and Flexen, ace by Henno and kill by Flexen, 5-5
>A 3-0 spurt by the Anteaters which included kills by Henno and Flexen gave UCI its largest lead, 9-7
>CSUN tied it 13-13 on an ace
>Teams would battle back-and-forth until CSUN had four consecutive kills to move out to a 20-17 advantage
>A block by D'Arcy and Campbell was followed by a kill by Campbell to tie the set at 22 all
>CSUN would hold set point on a UCI attack error 24-23, but a Flexen kill kept the set going 24-24
>UCI would continue to fight off set points before a Sheward dig and Cole Power set led to a Henno kill turning the tables, 27-26
>Tied at 28-28, UCI used a pair of Flexen kills to end the set, 30-28

NOTES
>Henno is now 11 aces shy of tying Carson Clark's all-time UCI ace record
>Sheward has guided the Anteaters to a .370 hitting percentage or better eight times this season, including .400 or better four times

UP NEXT
UCI continues its homestand hosting Hawaii for a pair of matches next Friday and Saturday (Apr. 5&6). Both matches start at 6:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.